FURIOUSLY HAPPY – A REVIEW

I had pre-ordered Jenny Lawson’s new book, Furiously Happy, back when she first announced it was available for pre-order (which I believe was April of this year). Even though I knew it wasn’t due out until Fall, I checked pretty much weekly and finally got the notice it was shipping.

And then it proceeded to take a week and a half to travel from one side of the Metroplex to the other…a trip that takes two hours in bad, rush-hour traffic.

However, it was well worth the wait!

If you are someone who deals with anxiety, depression and/or chronic illnesses, there is a lot of very relatable material in this book. Countless times I found myself nodding my head in agreement or in recognition of things that have happened to me that are similar to what Jenny writes about. She manages to take very serious topics and see the silver lining of humor in them.

If you are someone who knows someone who deals with anxiety, depression and/or chronic illnesses, you might enjoy/gain some insight from reading this book.

If you don’t fall into either of the above categories, first, I’m so glad that you don’t have to deal with this and still recommend the book as I think that at some point in your life, you will find something from this book that might be helpful to you.

That being said, Jenny herself has said that this book just isn’t for everyone. And that’s ok.

The book covers mental illness, it covers taking care of yourself, it covers The Spoon Theory (which I think everyone needs to know about) and even in the sad parts, there is still the flicker of hope.

When Jenny first blogged about her issues with mental health a few years ago, she was worried that her readers would leave. She was worried that people wouldn’t understand and that the stigma of mental illness and anxiety and a host of other “invisible” illnesses would drive people away. What happened, though, was she found that people wrote in the comments and in emails and private messages “Me, too. I thought I was the only one”.

I’m sure that not everyone who goes to Jenny’s book signings and reads her blog has issues. I’m sure that when she writes a serious piece that there ARE people who wander away, because they came for the “funny”. But when you go to a book signing and get to meet a bunch of other people who had to talk themselves into walking into the building, not because they don’t want to be there but because they desperately DO want to be there and realize that you’re not the only one, it’s a really beautiful thing.

I’ve shared Jenny with my Mom and it’s opened the door to conversations that I don’t think would have happened otherwise. It can help to be discussing a book and then relate a personal experience… it seemed to make things less awkward.

I highly recommend the book. It’s funny enough that even if you don’t find it personally relatable, you will still enjoy it and serious enough that you will feel that someone else in the world understands what happens in your life. You, too, deserve to be Furiously Happy!